Text view and Field view in Indian.docx

jhuhkjfwhfkfhwkhfjkdn

1. Text view and Field view in Indian
Sociology


The two major differences in going about the way one studies the Indian
society are in the way in which the sociologist derives information about
the society. The book view and the field view are such two approaches that
make the core difference between how sociologists with these two
approaches would perceive and subsequently write about a society.

The book view in Indian sociology is one that would make a sociologist
develop a picture of the Indian society which would very much be in line
with the way the Hindu scriptures describe it, which is what the orientalist
theorists used to develop an understanding of the Indian society. The field
view, on the other hand, is the view that one would develop after stepping
into the society that the sociologist intends on studying and having a first-
hand experience. This began as a view that had come to replace or
probably modify the book view. This view would also acquaint one with
the social realities of the society. Since the core difference between the two
views is the physical presence of the sociologist, it is bound to produce
very different results in what a sociologist takes from their research
depending on whether they choose to go by the book view or the field view.

The best way of studying a society would be to have an approach that takes
both the book view and the field view of the Indian society into account
and doesn’t get swayed away by the book view in the process. Of course,
the field view may have its own drawbacks, such as the risk of having the
sociologist’s biases. Yet, one could fairly easily argue that developing a
careful field view would be better than simply going by what the orientalist
theorists had described, which, along with being a colonized and
stereotypical account, would be a view which may not hold true to the
present-day realities.